Ōtaki – Education Town

Backyard Kids: High-quality fun learning

BY FRANK NEILL

Providing high-quality, fun learning for children whose parents are working is a major focus for Ōtaki’s newest pre-school, Backyard Kids Childcare.

Located at 73 Riverbank Road, this childcare centre opened about two months ago.

“I thought what Ōtaki was missing was a childcare centre that catered for families who work,” Backyard Kids owner and one of its teachers Alice Pritchard says.

“Ōtaki is changing and growing. More people are moving into this area who are needing daycare for longer hours,” she says.

That is exactly what Backyard Kids does, as it opens at 7:30am and continues until 5:30pm.

Providing quality education, where the tamariki have opportunities for creative, fun and imaginative learning that encourages the children to grow and learn at their own pace, is a major focus.

To achieve that Ms Pritchard has recruited an outstanding team of teachers, and all the eight teachers are qualified and registered. Most of them also have a Bachelor of Education degree.

“It has been quite a process finding these quality teachers,” Ms Pritchard says.

“That’s one of the great things, we’ve got amazing teachers and they are doing an amazing job.

“Each child has one teacher and that teacher caters for each child’s individual needs.

“The teachers have a big role in the child’s life,” she says. Backyard Kids is focused on creating curious minds through explorative play, with an emphasis on both learning and building relationships.

The teachers play a big role in this, with their strong focus on building the relationships with the child and their whānau.

Backyard Kids was architecturally designed, providing high quality and spacious indoor and outdoor areas that enhance learning.

One aim of the design was to develop a home-like environment for the children.

The indoor and outdoor facilities provide spaces for three groups of children – under two, two to three and a half, and three and a half to six.

Another focus for Backyard Kids is providing high-quality nutritious food.

One of the 11 staff members is a chef, who is also a nutritionist.

The chef provides the children with morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea.

Backyard Kids has a roll of 47 children, aged from three months to six years, although most of the children go to school when they are five.

It has the capacity to cater for 60, “so now we are ready to take on more children,” Ms Pritchard says.

The childcare centre has been very, very popular, and demand has been high.

“We probably get four or five enquiries a week.”

Ms Pritchard decided to develop a childcare centre as a result of her learnings while she was a teacher, having taught in Wainuiomata, London and at Plimmerton School before she had her two children.

“I was a primary-school teacher and I thought there was a gap in what children were given before five,” she says. Children need the space and environment and high-quality teachers so they can develop the skills needed for their ongoing learning and development.

“I wanted this to be a home-away-from-home where the children are cared for and loved.

“I wanted to create a nice environment where parents are happy to drop their children off and the children are happy to be here.”

And that is exactly what Backyard Kids is giving the children.

“The children are at the centre of everything we do,” Ms Pritchard says.